I Was Thankful
by Awelsomes
Summary: It had been just a normal day, like always. But then my shower did a total Wizard of Oz move and now I'm in Amestris! How did I get here? And how am I getting home? I going to need to find something to be thankful for... MAJOR HAVOCOC MINOR ROYAI
1. Showers Aren't Meant Like That!

_**Hey, all! *dodges tomatoes, potatoes, and pomatos* I know, I need to work on my other stories, but I'm going to take them down. *hides in an abandoned shack* Eep! It's not because I've lost interest or anything, but I just get too much blockage with both!**_

_**But this one has a good plot line and it follows the Anime! Yaaaaayyy!**_

_**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN FMA OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. I ONLY CLAIM MY CHARACTER!**_

_**Note: This story was originally meant for a awesome site called Quizilla, but it's too perverted! BE WARNED!**_

_**Thank God for...  
(A FullMetal Alchemist Story)  
*Chapter One: Showers aren't meant like that!***_

I smiled at my reflection in the mirror. My brown hair just barely dangled past my earlobes by maybe an inch or two, but my blond bangs went all the way to my collarbone. Those bangs were so badly ridden with split ends, too. But yet they still grew.

My face had a few freckles on it; the curse of the sun's rays against my flesh. But, no matter to that. I was still as pale as a sheet. I liked myself that way. My eyes trailed down my thin and halfway curvy figure. It was hard to believe I was really only twenty-one. I reminded myself of how I looked like I was still sixteen or so.

I smiled, and my dark green eyes smiled with me. I could see the pale gold around my pupils very clearly. It stood out, really. Though there were dark under-eye circles that signaled no sleep. Damn the insomnia...

I reminded myself of what I really was, though: a dork. Major Dork Maddi was my name given to me by my peers. I adored it, too. In fact, one of my best friends was named First Lieutenant Dork Twitch. She moved so long ago, though...

I kept this fake smile on as I ran the brush through both sections of my hair (blond and brunette) again. My first day as a sophmore at ASU would also be my last. But I didn't know it during that point. I wouldn't even make it to my first class of the day.

But, I'm already getting ahead of myself.

At that point, it was 6:05 in the morning. I could hear my roommate snoring in the next room. Gosh, she was like a rock! I would have to awaken her later, most likely. Then I'd get a very long lecture about using up the hot water...

It would be worth it.

I let my towel drop to my hands and my eyes ran over my skin. It was all evenly shaded that careful color of pale. My skin was still dry. I knew that much. I kept the insincere smile on my face as I walked into the shower and closed the dark green curtain behind me.

"Just another day," I spoke to myself as If it would settle the butterflies in my stomach. Nevertheless, it didn't work. I slung the towel over the bar before I turned on the hot water-full blast for my nerves. It hit me and started to steam. Was my skin really that cold? It had to be only February, but I couldn't be that freezing...Could I? I shook off this possibility. Nah, I was just being imaginative.

I started to hum a small tune to myself. One I knew by heart with the chords and with my violin. I knew how to play it so beautifully...I loved the tune of it. And then the beat always changed when you finally got a hold of the last one. It reminded me of a slippery snake sometimes.

My feet ached to do the small river-dancing step I knew. It truly was an Irish song from I was guessing the middle ages. I could remember that it had no words, but it must have been a great hit in the royal parties everywhere back then.

I bit my lip before my feet could start to tap in the way they ached to do. With my luck, I'd fall and break something. Ah, but the water took most of my worries away. It felt wonderful on my skin and it refreshed my soul like a dried tulip during a summer storm. It just felt that nice...

I ran my hand to the bar of pink soap and lathered my now warm body. The water made a sort of tapping noise on the walls and floor of the shower that truly is hard to explain. And the soap made a kind of sloshing noise over my skin. The perfect harmony, really.

I could smell the lavender and coconut in the fragrant soap as I placed it down. But the water soon washed away this smelly smell and replaced it with something a bit more...foul. It was a smell that reminded me a lot of my roommate after she returned from her usual morning jog.

I cannot say that it was truthfully the water that replaced the smelly smell or the soothing sounds. I guess it must have been the people in what had been my bathroom.

I just shrugged off the thoughts of confusion that ran through my mind as I lathered up my hair next. It really did need to be scrubbed after waking up the previous night in a cold sweat. I could only faintly remember that dream, but it had a large gate and many, many eyes...

I shivered at the memory. It was so horrid. I didn't want to think about it.

I rinsed out my vanilla-smelling shampoo and re-lathered it all once again. The same process twice is what it always was.

"Yeah, but Havoc-." I heard the halfway-rough voice talk to someone whose name I guessed was 'Havoc'. It was cut off by another, slightly irritated voice. I couldn't tell if I had heard it correctly because of my hair.

"I don't give a damn, Breda. That's what the Colonel said." This must have been the person named 'Havoc' or whatever talking to the first voice, I guessed. But wait-how did these two voices get into my bathroom? Odd, I knew I had locked the door.

I squeezed away water from my hair one last time before reaching about half a meter below the shower head to turn off the water. All the warmth the hot water had given me disappeared and I was left shivering. I bit my lip to rid of any teeth-chattering. The conversation still went on, though.

"True," said the first voice (whose name was 'Breda' by what I could interpret). "But why us?" He sounded a bit irritated.

"If I only knew I would tell ya, buddy." The second voice said, a bit tired. He must have had a long day or something. There were footsteps signaling one of the men walking away from the other. I guessed it had been the first voice/Breda, because I heard the second voice/Havoc mutter something under his breath I couldn't make out.

The shower curtain opened up, but not by me or itself. A olive-ish hand grabbed the side of it and thrust the said curtain open. I looked up to the person in front of me, expression drained away from my face.

I saw his eyes travel down my body and a blush come to his cheeks. I raised an eyebrow before looking him up and down. He only wore a light blue towel over his necessary parts. My face heated up instantly.

Then it hit me-I was pretty much naked.

"Um..." Said both of us in unison. He really was quite a looker, I had to admit. Sure, he wasn't Mr. Universe or anything, but he wasn't a scrawny weakling like I had seen before. He had maybe a four-pack ab. He was evenly tanned from what I could see. His eyes were a brilliant shade of blue that seemed to be in a league all its own. It kind of reminded me of the ocean if you looked at it from above.

But...his hair...It reminded me so much of my own. Past his poof-styled blond bangs I saw brown hair that was short but not too short. The perfect balance, in my opinion.

I wonder how he saw me, though. A freak, maybe? Could he be thinking about my need of a towel or could he even be pondering about my body? Did he think I was pretty? Hah, probably not. I wasn't much of a thing to see. Just the average dork, most likely.

You know, he probably saw me as naked since I had no towel or anything wrapped around me. Shit. Why didn't he say anything, though? My hair dripped a drop of water down my back. It was cold, too.

"..." So much silence, like he wanted to say something but couldn't. He just stared into my eyes and I stared back. He tried to move left, but I moved right. My blush grew brighter. I tried the other way, but so did he. Brighter. We both tried a trick, but he bumped into me. This sent me to the ground. My face was like a tomato. No wall caught me either. In fact, where there should have been a wall there was air.

Hadn't there been a wall there earlier? A tiled wall? Shouldn't that have caught me or something? Or had I been dreaming again? No. I hadn't been. That wall had been there for as long as me and my roommate had been living there.

"So," I said, blinking once from my spot on the ground. Truthfully, I just wanted to break the silence between both of us. "How's that for dancing?" I was also trying to lighten the mood, but that was not going to work. I noticed that just past his head a bare bar hung a dark blue shower curtain. Wasn't mine green? With a black towel on it? And hadn't my ceiling been a bit lower?

'He must think I am a psychopath for just sitting here looking up at him.' My towel was gone and I was just left there, naked and alone, with him staring down at me like he wanted to tell me something.

His hands went to his side and he halfway unraveled something at about his waist. What could he be doing? Was he grabbing a gun from under the towel or something? Could he be about to kill me? Yep-I could see the headlines now. 'College Student Murdered in Odd Robbery' it would read. Wouldn't it be hilarious to see on the front of the newspaper? I bet.

I saw only a flash of light blue fabric as he thrust his towel to me. He threw it, I'm guessing, just so it covered my eyes. That'd be unladylike to look at his manhood before a marriage, now wouldn't it? I kept it over my eyes until I heard he had a different towel wrapped around himself, then I pulled it down from my face. My face wasn't as red as before because the towel just smelled like stiff cotton and it didn't make me think of...you get the idea. Then I looked at him again and my face turned a few shades brighter.

He held a hand out to me, which I accepted gratefully. He pulled me to my feet and I kept a hold of the towel. It was actually kind of warm compared to my freezing skin. It was so cold in there. I shivered a bit, too. Why was it so cold to me all of a sudden?

I wrapped the warm-ish light blue towel smoothly around my figure, but it barely went an inch or so past my hips. I nodded a thanks before sighing. This would be a problem.

The man just held the red blush on his face for a few seconds longer before shaking off whatever he was thinking about. I wondered what his thoughts were-but they were probably something perverted if I knew guys correctly. Though they could be something different. I doubted that, though.

His blush was gone from his face, finally, but mine still held its place. I willed it away, but it just stayed put. I gave a shrug that said 'What now?' and a raised eyebrow. I kind of felt like myself as a little kid again when I'd get in trouble and just look at the teacher like I expected some great punishment I was ready to bear.

He moved (and this time I didn't move with him) to where he could have one arm around me with his hand on my shoulder and his other hand on my other shoulder, like he was steering me. Was he going to take me somewhere? I got my answer when we started walking towards what I'm guessing was the exit.

"What's your name, kid?" He spoke, just loud enough for me to hear. I looked up at his face, which held a mixed look of determination and annoyance. He stared straight ahead like he was embarrassed to have me near-though his face did not hold a blush.

"My name is Maddison. That's truly all you need to know." I glared at him until he looked down to meet my eyes. Then I felt more heat rise to my cheeks before I looked ahead. There were people all around us but they were all men. They either wore some sort of military uniform or a towel as we walked by.

I blushed and looked down at my feet. I didn't need to see this. But...wait...my bathroom's floor was colored a light green-not blue. Where was I, exactly? And what was I doing here?

"My name is Jean, then. That's all you need to know." I looked up to him as he jacked my line. I gave a glare, but I could see the playful smile pulling at his lips. That little bastard was joking at me! What the hell?

I didn't want to smile back, but it was obvious my scowl had been forced onto my own face. I heard a small chuckle emerge from his throat, but not his mouth.

"So, Maddison, what's your favorite subject in High School?" I couldn't help but smile.

"If you're flattering me, thanks; but if you are that ignorant, then you might want to know that I'm actually a sophmore in college where I am currently earning my master's degree in education," I gave a little huff of annoyance. I could see the sign above a door that said 'EXIT' in large block letters that also glowed a green-red color. Odd. That was never in my bathroom.

He gave me a raised eyebrow that meant he actually was doing/being a bit of both.

Why was he acting so kind? Could he be trying to act like a girl in what used to be my bathroom but was now some kind of men's locker room was an everyday occurrence? Did he know it wasn't? Or was he genuinely being nice because he wanted to be? Or could it even be because of other sexual reasons? Could he just be using me for something more?

Then I noticed why he was doing these things. A few whispers were all I could hear for a few seconds.

"Who's that?" One would say to a different one in a whisper just loud enough for me to hear.

"What's a girl like that doing in here and why is she with Havoc?" Another would say, elbowing the person he was talking to in the ribs so he could see me. I wasn't that much of a disturbance, was I?

"Holy shit, Havoc's leading a girl somewhere. My money's on her..."

And so on they would go. I bet if I looked behind me I would see some of them still looking after me and the tall man next to me. He was trying not to let me hear those semi-crude whispers. But I had ears and, despite the last one nearly making me collapse in a fit of giggles, this was serious. This wasn't home, no matter how much I wished to be there. Obviously, it couldn't be.

Jean opened the door under the exit sign for me. It made a small creaking sound as it opened, and the bathroom tile turned to linoleum. Blue linoleum, too. Why was everything blue around this place?

I muttered something under my breath and Jean looked at me for a second. Then he looked down both ways of the halls and thought for a second. I wondered what his mind could be processing.

"I had better take you to Lieutenant Hawkeye. If I took you to Sheska you could be lost in books." He nearly said this as an afterthought, because he turned left quickly and started quickly towards a destination unknown. We passed few people, but when two or more passed us they would immediately start whispering to each other when they thought us out of hearing range. It nearly made me cringe.

"Excuse me, Jean?" I said, halfway wishing he didn't hear me. He turned his head to look at my self and raised an eyebrow as if saying 'What?'. I blushed a bit. "Where are we going?" He smiled at this.

"The Colonel is out for tonight so I'm taking you to go home with Lieutenant Hawkeye because she has the night off and I don't. Unless you want to stay here or something in a prison cell." He smiled at me rather sneakily. I blushed a bit more and shook my head 'no'. "Then we're at an agreement. You'd need to be careful around here, too. With only a towel around yourself, some men could get a bit...tested. Besides, I think Lieutenant Hawkeye still has some extra clothes in her locker and you both are about the same size." I smiled, but then realized something.

"And you know this...how?" He turned a slight shade of pink and muttered something about it being not important. The ass...

I sighed and shook away what concerns I held. What was I to care? I had no idea where I was, so these people could treat me any way they wanted to. I was just glad he wasn't forcing me to stay here.

"Thanks, then. I appreciate this, really." He blushed a bit brighter and shook his head as if that was unimportant as well. I smirked. "Jean?"

He looked at me with a confused expression, as if wondering what I could be asking now. "Yeah?"

"What's going through your mind at the moment?" I didn't look at him, but directed my attention straight ahead. I don't know if he blushed, looked forward again or what.

"I guess I'm wondering what you could be thinking at the moment," He said after a moment, sighing. I thought about what he said.

"Well," I said in a smaller voice and a light blush on my face. My finger was to my lips as if I was pondering this. "To tell the truth, I guess I'm thinking about how I've asked that question about a million times and you are the only one who has answered truthfully. At least, no one I know has ever said something like that."

He smiled at me and spoke some more, "I guess that answers my question." I raised an eyebrow, pulling the light blue towel tighter around me.

"And that would be the question?"

"Never mind that, Maddison." He wasn't gonna answer me. I sighed and shrugged. I didn't really care.

We turned a corner and (after passing two giggly women who eyed me like I was a slut but gave a smile to Jean) quickly reached a large door like the one I had seen earlier. This one, though, was right next to...

"Please don't tell me we just walked all that fucking way for nothing!" I groaned when I saw the door exactly like the one Jean and I had exited from. He gave a sheepish smile.

"Then I won't tell you that we took the scenic route," he said, turning to knock on the door with the female stick figure-y sign. He made two loud knocks on the door. It took a minute or two before someone opened the door.

I leaned against the wall and sighed. How was I going to get home? Would these people be any help? I doubted it. Though he was letting me leave with someone who (possibly) wasn't perverted. That would truthfully be a miracle. Jean sighed and looked back at me.

"Love your hair," he said with a smirk. "Is it the same down there?" I snorted out of habit.

"Shouldn't you know? You are the one who found me naked in the shower. Bastard." I stuck my tongue out at him childishly. His face heated up a bit before he coughed.

"Um..." His sly smirk was gone now. The said smirk had ran from his face to mine. How easily a nasty comment could change the perspectives. But he had no time to think up his own, because someone opened the door.

"Lieutenant Havoc," said a voice. I wanted to see past him to see who this commanding voice belonged to. "Tell me why you're here."

"I opened up the shower curtain and I found a certain thing I think the Colonel should see," Jean said, placing his hand on the back of his head. The person sighed.

"And let me guess, you want me to take it for a while?" Havoc nodded. A loud gunshot went off and a bullet nearly missed my head.

"Oh holy fuck! Where the hell did that come from!?" I said, shaking in fear. Havoc had also jumped aside to avoid the bullet. I finally saw the woman. Her hair was about as long as my bangs and blond. Her own bangs were pulled across her forehead in a style that reminded me of some the Disney stars' nowadays. Her eyes were a dark red that were almost as piercing as her bullets. Her towel was a bit longer than mine, and her skin was quite a bit darker than my own. She wasn't that tanned, but she wasn't a ghost. She held a scowl on her face and a gun in her hand.

Needless to say, she looked pretty fucking scary.

Havoc moved at a gesture from her and looked at me. She seemed to evaluate my appearance by looking at my height, width, and body type in general. She kept her scowl.

"My name is Riza Hawkeye, First Lieutenant in the Amestris military," she spoke with authority. I gulped. "You will address me as Riza and nothing more. You got that clear?" I nodded quickly, too afraid to say anything. She smiled politely and raised the gun towards the ceiling.

"Then we're clear. What's your name?" I bowed respectfully to her before coming up.

"My name is Maddison I. Slaughter. I'm currently attending ASU college and I'm working on earning my master's degree in education so I can become a teacher for younger students. I love children, Riza. Working with them is a passion I've always had. My friend is Naomi Vigil and she currently works for the United States' Navy." I took a silent breath after saying this. It was good to enter the tidbit about Naomi in there, just in case.

I bit my lip in nervousness. Children were actually just a recent love of mine, but I had always wanted to be a teacher. Whether or not it be one of my better subjects.

"Very well, Maddison. You can go now, Lieutenant Havoc." Riza turned and headed back into the women's locker room. I waved good-bye to Jean before following her inside. I don't know if he returned the gesture, because Riza moved quickly and I had to hurry to keep up with her.

"You need to be careful around Jean," said the woman, not looking back. "He's a bit more in love with his work than he has been with any girl. Though you act like his type." I raised an eyebrow and moved a little quicker to get next to her.

"What do you mean by 'his type'?" Riza just shook her head at my words, as if telling me to ask again later. I shook this away from my memories, though. It wasn't important as getting home.

The red-eyed woman just went to a locker. It was blue and the lock upon it was like the ones I had seen on my lockers from Jr. High and High School. Hawkeye entered her code. I saw it go right five times before stopping on the number 30 before going left twice and landing on 15 and then going right once again until 0 was the number on top. I memorized this combination before she could notice my watchful eye. I had seen what she had done to Jean, and I didn't want that to happen to me.

Riza opened the locker and pulled out one of two pairs of clothing she held in there. The one she pulled out was a folded pile. These must have been her extra clothes. I could remember Jean saying that she'd most likely have some about my size.

"I think these will fit you, Maddison," She handed me the clothes. I smiled a thanks. "Thanks, Riza. I truly owe you one." I bowed respectfully and went to change in the area I had seen when we were walking to her locker.

I could have sworn I heard her say something under her breath about 'hearts' or whatever, but I shrugged it off.

Finally. I couldn't believe I finally could wear something besides this damned towel.

Thank God for bitchy women and hot guys!


	2. Yay for Clothes!

**Hay, guys! I was going to put this up Saturday, but I totally had no time for anything! I'm so sorry! But, here you go! Nine pages of awelsomeness. There's even a hint at the plot, if you can find it!**

DISCLAIMER: I OWN ONLY Maddison, MY OC! 

**Thank God for...  
(A FullMetal Alchemist story)  
*Chapter Two: Yay for clothes!*  
**

I was very glad to be rid of the stiff cotton towel that had been my confinement since Jean had found me. I watched as the light blue fabric fell to the ground noiselessly. I yawned, and stretched my arms upwards. I felt like I was almost ready to go back to bed. Though didn't Jean say Riza had the night off? Was it not only 6:45? Then again, this place wasn't exactly making to best of sense.

I put on the shirt Riza lent me and looked down at it. It was a deep purple color and decoration-less. The shirt's neckline was about two inches below my collarbone but it only went to an inch under my chest. The sleeves went about an inch or so past my elbows and weren't really that tight, but it probably would've helped to have them a bit bigger. Ah, well. Beggars couldn't be choosers. Besides, anything was better than that damn towel.

I smiled at my self in the mirror, despite the lack of pants. I unfolded them and saw the back pockets had a sapphire blue design stitched in. It looked hand-stitched, too. Did Riza put that on there? I wasn't sure.

I shimmied into that thing and zipped it up. I marveled at how easily I could get it on.

The pants Riza had lent me fit perfectly. They were tan and the waistline went just below my naval. The legs were pretty loose and stayed far away from my thighs and knees. They ended just below that point and exposed my bare legs.

The pants reminded me of a style I had supported when I was only fifteen. I wonder how I looked in them. Was I pretty? A better sight than before, at least? Okay, so that was a no-brainer. But I really did wonder if the outfit looked okay.

I finally saw the boots Riza had lent me and my eyes went wide. Oh, _wow_...

When I pulled on the dark, polished material of the boots onto my feet, they made me an inch taller. They stretched all the way up to my calves, shining like no tomorrow when they touched the light. I smiled inwardly at the feel of the said boots against my leg.

I brushed away imaginary dust on the pants and threw the towel in a small bucket I saw with other towels. I smiled now that I was rid of that dreaded thing. It felt good to not have the stiff light blue fabric that had dried me just a short while ago against my skin.

I soon left that particular area and returned to the locker area, where Riza stood dressed in a dark maroon shirt (Turtleneck) and some black pants that were tight in the thigh and partially baggy when it got to her knee. She carried a brown shoulder bag that hung down a bit past her hips.

"Thanks, Riza. This means a lot to me, really," I said, rubbing my pale forearm. I gave a sheepish smile before she nodded her approval. She looked at the clothes up and down on me before she smirked.

"It's better than the towel _and_ it looks a lot better on you than me. Keep the outfit." The red-eyed woman held a sincere smile upon her lips. I raised an eyebrow in confusion. Had she really just told me to _keep_ the outfit? Before I could say anything, she waved away the topic like my roommate would have waved off a fly. When I _did_ try to say something, I'd only get out the first syllable before she'd say something.

"Wait-!" I'd manage to say-reluctant to accept this offer.

"No." Though Riza was reluctant to let me give them back.

"But-!"

"No."

"I-!"

_Click._ I gulped as she brought out her gun. She must have been annoyed.

"Okay!" I held up my hands in defeat with another gulp. She shook her head and put away the gun. I slowly put my hands down, halfway expecting for her to whip the thing out again and shoot me. I bit my lip nervously.

"Let's just go, Maddison." She said, turning on her heel and walking out of the locker room. She didn't go as fast this time, so I could catch up a bit easier.

I nodded and walked quickly after her. She opened the door to the hall (which had the same 'EXIT' sign above it as the boys' room did) and, surprisingly, the mentioned door didn't squeak. I raised an eyebrow to myself before shaking off any suspicions. I had had _enough_ surprises in the past _hour_ to last me a lifetime, thank you.

When I exited the women's locker room, my eyes met an odd sight. Jean was out there, as well as three others. The three hung back a bit, conversing quietly amongst themselves. They were looking from Jean to me in observation.

The tallest one of them had salt-and-pepper hair but I couldn't tell his eye color. His cheekbones were highly distinguishable, though, and he wore the same military-styled outfit as the other two and Jean. He bent down to talk to the other two in a whispering tone. I decided to call him Squint.

There was the middle one, too. He reminded me of that old kiddie song I had heard so much that went, 'I'm a little teapot, short and stout.' He kind of made me want to laugh, but that really wasn't the time to do that. His hair was red and his eyes were black. He wasn't the most attractive thing, really. He was, in a kind way, probably the one they used to play Santa at Christmas. Yeah, his name was Teapot.

The shortest one reminded me of a teddy bear. He was just like Harry Potter or something! I wanted to yell something random and hug him to death. He was just that adorable! He had jet black hair that spiked up a little and thick glasses that hid his cute blue-black (more of a royal blue color, really) eyes. He didn't have a scar on his forehead or anything, but his nose was a bit crooked. I guessed he had broken it before or something. I dubbed him Harry Potter.

They all held some sort of gray-ish brown money in their hands, so I guessed they were in a bet or something. Riza sighed, shook her head and rubbed her temples like this was a nuisance. She just stood off to the side, awaiting me to finish talking to Jean.

I thought it was actually kind of cute, truthfully.

"Hi, Jean!" I said with a grin and wave. He was smoking, I could see. He hadn't been earlier, had he? I could also see his hair was only a bit damp, like he had dried it in a hurry or it had been air-drying for a long bit of time now. How long _had_ he been waiting outside the door? "What's up besides the ceiling, sky, clouds...space...etcetera?" I laughed at my own words, but quickly covered my mouth to hide it. It was _very_ dorky to laugh at one's own crappy jokes.

He waved back nervously. What was he doing? And why were those three watching us both intently? Was their bet about Jean or something?

"Hey, Maddison. I see you're wearing clothes again." Not the best thing to say, really. I could have bet that it had sounded a lot cooler in his head. I chuckled anyway.

"Yeah, they're a lot better than that towel. Have I ever mentioned how cold it is?" Ah, shit. Shitty question, shitty comeback.

_Dear Coach, there _are_ stupid answers._ I would need to tell him about that scenario next time I saw him. Then again, I don't think he would really appreciate the fact that I had been in a guy's locker room...naked...

Yep, I could see that go over real well with my former science teacher, couldn't you?

"No, actually, you haven't." That was a _bit_ better of a comeback, I think. Slow progress. I fell silent in the awkwardness. It was hard for me to talk to this man for some reason. I was okay with him finding me in the shower, because that had happened many times before with some other men (but not exactly like he had), but it was near unbearable for me to talk to him!

He was silent as well. It was like he was trying to think of something to say. His left hand went to the back of his head in nervousness, like he was afraid to continue the conversation, and he looked at the ground. What was going through his mind? I wished I could tell.

"Jean?" I said, a slight blush on my cheeks. He looked up again and raised an eyebrow at me. "I think I had better go..." Riza seemed slightly annoyed for some reason. He nodded, as if slightly embarrassed.

"Bye, Maddison..." He seemed a bit depressed, like he _really_ should have gathered more courage or something. I just shrugged it off. He'd get over it eventually, right?

As I turned to walk after Riza (who was ambling again), I saw Jean sigh; Harry Potter give a look of achievement; and Squint and Teapot hand their money to the little nerd. This sight made me give off a giggle. I waved 'bye' to Jean. He waved back with a slightly sad expression on his face. I wondered what was wrong with him, but it was not like I could ask.

I caught up with the blond woman and she smiled at me. I smiled back to her, but was kind of afraid.

"Let's head back," She said. I nodded, but thought of something.

"Riza?" I asked. She let out a 'hm?' that signaled she was listening. "Why did Jean just have a short and shitty conversation with me?" She shrugged, like she knew but couldn't tell me because it was obvious. I sighed. What _was_ with that crap-versation? Riza seemed to know, but she didn't act like she was going to tell.

I sighed again, but this time more inward than outward. I didn't know what I had been expecting from the conversation with Jean. Either way, I couldn't believe I had gotten it. I wondered what he was saying to Squint, Teapot, and Harry Potter at the moment. I doubted those three would have been there unless they were his friends.

Though they had been betting...

Riza and I soon went down a flight of stairs. They were blue and squeaked a bit, but they held up. Why would they have wooden stairs when the concrete ones were much more efficient? Don't most places usually have that kind instead due to safety regulations or something? And don't they usually not paint stairs blue?

Shrugging to myself, I ignored that fact. It really didn't matter, did it? No. It didn't.

Riza sped up her pacing a bit. I wondered why, but I doubted she would say. I felt some eyes on me as the red-eyed woman and we both exited the building by a regular wooden door.

I wanted to gasp aloud when I saw the outside. It _definitely _wasn't Texas, Toto.

But there it was-the city outside my bathroom. Well, it had been my bathroom before, but it decided to turn into a locker room for men! Gosh, why were bathrooms so fucking _moody_?!

"Oh my fucking God..." I trailed off, my eyes as wide as plates. My pupils dilated and my jaw fell open. "It's a _giant mushroom_...!" The woman in front of me looked back, her hand on her hip so she would be ready to shoot if necessary. I chuckled to myself. Didn't she get it? She still held her gun.

Apparently not.

"Sorry! I blame my roommate because she's the one who got me into this show in the first place." Riza just shrugged and continued walking.

I marveled at the sight around me as we only walked down the sidewalk. I've seen a city before, but this thing looked so much like the old buildings I studied last year in History, only newer.

The sun was setting (or rising) in what I guessed was the East. How did that go? Did the sun rise in the West or in the East? I couldn't remember.

Some people spared us more than a passing glance. One man tipped his hat and another man gave me a long look in the chest area. I really would have slapped him, but Riza walked swiftly.

"Riza?" I asked when I caught up. "Where the hell are we? This ain't Texas because the snow says so." I made a glance at some snow on the ground to prove my point. She chuckled to herself while I ran a hand through my blond section of hair. I really needed to get a brush through it.

"This is East City, the place where the Eastern headquarters of the Amestris military resides. Any questions?" I shook my head 'no' and we continued on in silence. East city...That was odd, really. There weren't any 'East City's in America that I knew of.

Sighing, I kept after her. She walked really fast for a military person. Most people I knew who served had little energy after work to go home this fast.

The buildings around us as we walked slowly started to turn from businesses to homes. We had made great time, really. Despite the fact that I was jogging to keep up, it seemed like night would be here soon. The sun was barely peeking above the horizon now and I could see the moon a bit more clearly.

There was a buzz as a nearby convenience store turned on a lamp to show they were still open. I waved to the person who had turned it on and they waved back. They didn't know me (and vice versa) but these were good times.

I was happy when Riza finally got to an apartment complex. She and I walked up the front steps and through the door. Someone in the lobby greeted Riza with a wave, but gave a skeptical look when they saw me behind her. She payed no mind to that, but instead walked over to what I guess was her mailbox. She used a key that she materialized from her pocket to open the dark blue locker-styled box and removed four thick, yellow envelopes.

She waved again to the person and continued on. We went up the stairs to the second floor. Riza walked down the long hallway (that was a bit too narrow and a bit too dark of a shade of brown) and soon stopped at the room number _212_ before she used the same key to open the door. I followed her in and closed the mentioned door behind us.

"This is home," she said, gesturing at the small apartment. I saw a dark tan, leather couch by the door and across from it a bookshelf sat instead of the usual TV. It was marvelously beautiful. The sides were engraved with some odd design (that kind of reminded me of the pocket on my pants) and had a large 'R' in the center.

There was a coffee table in front of the couch (same wood coloring as the shelf) and a book was its only decoration. It was semi-thick and black, a golden scrawl on it reading _'Truth'_. I wondered what this book was about.

A counter to my left had dark brown tile on it and matched the couch. Riza stood behind the said counter and pulled some bread from the breadbox. I saw a sink on the other counter behind her, a stove near that (I think it was a gas stove, too), and an icebox near that.

There was a short hallway that held three doors. One on the right side and two on the left. There was a photo in-between the two wooden doors. The surface of the glass on it was shiny and made the picture indistinguishable.

"I'm going to assume you've eaten already, since it's past nine already." I nodded. I didn't have to eat, really, but it was a "necessity". I wasn't hungry, anyways. She smiled and bit into her sandwich. I smelled the sliced ham, pickles, and wheat bread from where I stood. They smelled sorta nice, actually.

I walked (slowly, because I was tired) to the large bookcase. I saw titles on the books' spines that I had never heard of. There were some that made me giggle (like 'Roachy' and 'Trees That Spoke'), some that made me want to go 'aw' (like 'Return From War' and 'Times Of Love'), and one that made me wonder.

The spine of the one was brown, with the odd design on it. It looped around letters that read 'Transmutation' in French.

Was it just a fiction book that Riza liked quite a bit? Or was it something truly deep? I ignored these pondering questions and ran my hand over the spine, getting a shiver through my heart. I felt a bit of electricity flow through me, so I immediately brought my hand away.

I bit my lip as I saw Riza smirking at me. She had been watching me stare at the book like a complete idiot.

"That is an old book. My grandmother gave it to me about twelve years ago," she sighed and wiped away the crumbs of her quick sandwich off of her shirt and pants. "It's written in a dead language, though, so I can't understand the words in it. It's also hand-written, too." She petted the spine, but showed no sign of having electricity flow through her heart.

I watched her remove the said book and reveal its dark purple insides. The pages had pale-ish tank ink on them that read something in what I guessed was French. _This_ was a dead language? Hadn't they learned of France? It was in Europe, for the sake of God!

She saw me examining the text. "Do you know of the language?" I shook my head 'no'.

"I don't," I lied. Riza didn't need to know what was going through my mind at the moment. She closed the book and replaced it into her shelf. "Though it kind of looks familiar." She shrugged and went to put away the bread.

I sighed and sat on the couch, resting my head against the back of it. I kind of wished I had some paper and a pencil, so I could write or sketch down anything.

But, no, I had nothing. So I stared up at the ceiling. It was wooden, but painted white, and had a spider crawling across it. The said spider was a dark gray, with a blue 'x' on its head. It was not big or anything, but it moved slowly like it was hard to walk. Though it _was _on the ceiling...

I heard Riza walk down the hallway and a door close. She must have gone into one of the rooms or something. I didn't look, though. I just continued to stare at the ceiling.

I thought over of today's events. I really couldn't believe how abnormal this "East City" was. I mean, showers should never bring you to different places. At least not literally!

I grumbled something under my breath about boredom and closed my eyes. My mind wandered from its original composition and to an old memory...

_The sky was a light gray. As I sat on my porch, I stared out at the empty cotton field that surrounded my __home. The grass was a yellow-ish color, with hints at its original green, and swayed peacefully in the wind. I could smell the humidity in the air as my hair flowed around my head. _

_My green-gold eyes surveyed the horizon, awaiting for the rain storm to show. It would be here soon, by what I could see. Though I was nearly blind, I could see the rain upon the said horizon. It was a darker gray than the rest, and kind of slanted.  
__  
There would be great wind, too. I could hear the crash of the thunder in the distance. How much closer it sounded then before. I could smell the rain a bit stronger. How quickly it traveled didn't compare to how fast my heart was beating._

The scene made me breathless and kept me in such a way that I had to look away from this beautiful landscape to regain most of my consciousness. How could something so doom-filled bring me such relieve from my pain-filled heart?

The sprinkler was going at this time. It didn't need to be on, but it was drowning the small, twig-like tree in water so it would grow...or die...I wasn't sure of which.

I could hear the door open to my right, but I ignored it. Someone sat next to me on the bench.

"Maddison," said a kind and gentle voice, "why don't you come inside?" I snorted.

"Because," I replied, looking at my grandmother. Her pure white hair was curly and her dark skin contrasting greatly with her white-framed eyeglasses. "I just can't." She nodded like she understood, but I knew she didn't. No one did.

She blinked her chocolate brown eyes and sighed when I said no more. Shaking her head, she got up and returned inside.

No one got me. Not even him_. But he was the closest to getting there..._

I heard a door close again, snapping me away from my memory and forcing my eyes to open. The spider from the ceiling was gone and so was the short memory. I heard the near-silent _'click-clack'_ of high heels walking across a room and Riza humming quietly to herself. I scraped my eyes reluctantly from the ceiling to see what she was doing.

My eyes widened a bit at the red-eyed women. She looked simply _stunning_!

She had a black dress on, which was simple yet elegant at the same time. It only went an inch past her knees and was so low, she had a black tank top under it. It was sleeveless, as well. The tank top held the same design as my pocket, the book written in French, and the shelf. She really did like that design, didn't she?

Her hair was down again and her face had a bit of makeup on it. I smiled at her.

"I take it you're awake?" Riza questioned. I nodded and stood. She smiled and grabbed a purse. "Good. We're going to see what Mustang is _really_ doing."

"Who's Mustang?" I asked. She grabbed some money from the brown leather bag she had brought to her apartment and her keys from the counter.

"You'll meet him tomorrow when you go into his office to explain how you got into the Men's Locker Room with out being seen. He's the Colonel that Lieutenant Havoc and I serve under." She said this all in one breath. I nodded and felt my smile becoming more and more sly at her.

"You like him, don't you?" The woman walking towards the door froze for a millisecond, like she had been caught red-handed.

"No. He's an arrogant, procrastinating jerk who breaks girls' hearts and-" Riza nearly started on a lecturing rant before I cut her off,

"But you like him, don't you?" Her hand went to her side for her gun, but it wasn't there. She clenched her hands into fists before relaxing. Her sigh was actually a bit loud.

"Yes, I kind of do."

"Why not tell him? I know you're both in the military and all, but love conquers all, right?" Riza didn't think about my statement.

"Not in the Amestris military." I sighed at her. She didn't get it, did she? Love always worked out in the end if it was true!

But I did not press on. It was not worth it, really. Plus, she could double back and grab a gun at any time. And I liked my life, thank you!

She walked out of the apartment and waited for me in the hall. When I shut the door behind me, she locked it with her key. She tested the knob and when the door didn't open, she started to walk away. I kind of laughed to myself when she didn't walk fast. Consistent, wasn't she?

"Maddison," she said, "be wary of the people where we are going. Some may be a bit more...woozy...than others. And don't be afraid to slap some sense into them if they get close." I nodded. She said that like we were going to a bar. Well, could we possibly be? I mean, that's what it sounded like.

"Okay," I spoke a bit quieter than usual. I was kind of nervous, truthfully. I wondered, more so now than earlier, about what Jean had wanted to ask me. Could he have wanted to ask me for a drink or something? Nah, that wouldn't happen when you took into concern that this was _me _we were talking about. And I wasn't really the prettiest girl on Earth...

Riza didn't pay notice to my tone, but kept on, "Roy will most likely be there-so be cautioned. Try not to let him see you, Maddison."

"Okay." My words were partially forced, because my mind was still in thought. I wondered what Jean was doing at that moment. Could he possibly be with Harry Potter, Squint, and Teapot? Or could he be at home?

No, I knew better than that. I remembered clearly that he was back at the "Headquarters" (as Riza called them), working. I should have known that sooner! Gosh, I was such an ignorant _dork_!

"Riza?" I asked. Though I really did wish she hadn't have heard me.

"Yes, Maddison?" I nearly winced when she replied.

"Where _are_ we going?" I could hear her satisfied smirk.

"Just wait and see." Best response ever, huh?

Thank God for my happy place, though!


	3. It's a PUPPY!

**Hey, guys! It's an early update this week, mostly because you got a late one last time and I'm going to Dallas this weekend! HAZAH! I hope you guys like this one, because a LOT of plot is in a few parts here. And all of it has to do with a little book in French and that odd design...**

DISCLAIMER: I OWN ONLY MY OC, WHICH IS KIND OF LIKE A SELF-INSERT 'CUZ I WANTED TO BE LAZY!

----Bits of episodes used in this chapter: First part of Episode 13, but besides that, not much!----

**Thank God For...  
(A FullMetal Alchemist Story)  
*Chapter Three: It's a PUPPY!***

Yawning to myself, I stared out at Riza having fun. I had experienced this feeling of loneliness before when my friends and I had gone to a pub, but not really ever like this. I took a sip of the alcohol I had purchased. It went down to my stomach and kept me warm.

"Aye, she be havin' a real fun time, eh?" I looked to the bartender, Sam, who was looking at Riza as well. I smiled at him, since he was the only one attempting to socialize with me. I returned my gaze to the red-eyed woman who had housed me for the night. She danced with a strange man (who wasn't Mustang, I could tell) to an odd beat I had never heard before.

"Yep," I sighed. The bartender was wiping a glass clean. "Sam? Have you ever met a Jean Havoc?" The man nodded his dark, bald head. He held his gaze at the two in disappointment for a moment longer before looking at me again.

"Aye. Nice boy without much luck, it seems. Why you be askin', little miss?" I shrugged. Why was I asking?

"First person I met when I got to this city was him," I responded. It was a half-truth, actually. Sam nodded at me, like something was obvious. He chuckled to himself. "What?!"

"Aye, it be nothing, little miss. Just som-in' passin' through thoughts." I glared at the balding man (who had to be over forty or so), sticking out my tongue childishly. He chuckled again. "I guess it just be that you-un-him look alike in a way." I raised an eyebrow.

"We aren't related, Sam. There's no possible way that could happen. Trust me." The bartender shook his head like he knew what I was talking about and went to serve a customer. I sighed to myself.

Just another day in paradise...

"God, I'm so bored. If only I had a pencil and paper, I could sketch Riza's good time. Then we would both be having a bit more fun than one would believe." Growling to myself, I shook off the alcohol's effects. I was _not_ some random, cheap drunk, dammit!

"So, little miss shower had the guts to appear out in public." I looked to my left as someone sat down next to me. I knew their voice, and I should not have had to look. I did, though.

Teapot sat on the stool next to me. I snickered to myself, realizing that _this_ man was the one who had been so irritated at the Colonel's orders only a few hours before.

"Says the Teapot, short and stout," I covered my mouth to hide a laugh. "I bet I can find your handles and spout." The red-headed man turned a light shade of pink.

"You're the one who let Havoc down." Ah, good counter attack. But, yet, it was not. How had I let Jean down? And when?

"If it is a sin for having a moody bathroom, I repent." The Teapot winced slightly, like he couldn't believe I had used such a bad excuse. "Besides, it's not like Jean wanted to ask me out or anything. I'm just a passing stranger, trying to find home. Nothing particularly special."

"Probably not, with Havoc's luck." I punched him in his kind of squishy arm, but not at all hard. "But we are talking 'bout Havoc here. Who knows if the fisherman has caught his shark." Something sparked in my memory, and I smiled a tiny bit.

"First he's gotta reel it in without the line breaking, and that could take a while. But then the shark could bite." Teapot shook his head as Sam finally brought out his drink. "And then we gotta see if he can tell the difference between the said shark and seaweed, because he had caught nothing but that before the shark and could go stereotypical at any moment."

"That's deep," Teapot said, lowering his drink after taking a gulp.

"It didn't seem like it when I was talking to my friend back in Houston and reading my scholarship acceptance letter. But Heaven's awesome like that, y'know?" The red-head chuckled, even though he probably had no idea what I was talking about.

Teapot thought to himself for a minute before continuing on a different subject, "I hate to say it, but you're really lucky you got to go home with Hawkeye."

"How so?" I asked, examining my drink a bit closer than I had before.

"If you had stayed, you would've had to hear some of the rumors that are a-spreading." I groaned slightly, my palm making a _'SMACK!'_ing sound as it hit my forehead. The man next to me chuckled.

"Damn you, rumor mill-you always kill me in the end!" I grumbled, rubbing my now-in-pain forehead. "_Ow_..."

I heard the song on the stereo change into something a bit slower and I heard Riza's _'click-clack'_ shoes as she walked over. When I looked back, she didn't have a man with her. So she didn't want the one night stand? Probably because she had me to watch after. Damn, I _was_ the person to hate.

"It's late, Maddison," she stated. A bit obvious about that, wasn't it? "We should be heading back to the apartment." Afraid to testify or contradict the woman, I nodded.

"Goodbye, Lieutenant Breda," said the red-eyed woman. I waved sheepishly at him in a manor of 'bye' and he gave a nod of understanding.

We walked back quickly and without words filling the air. You would have thought the woman would lighten up after dancing with a hottie and drinking a bit but no.

Sighing, I rubbed my eyes to try and rid of the sleep. Needless to say, it didn't work. I really was a bit deprived, when you thought about it.

I realized that we had not gone that far from Riza's apartment when we walked only two or three blocks to return to the complex where the red-eyed woman was housed.

I wondered to myself if she had gotten her wish of Mustang-spying, but really didn't think too much about it. I guessed that Teapot had that night off, too. But I kind of wished Jean had been there instead. Though Sam was kind to me.

We walked quickly up the stars and down the dark hallway. When we stopped at Riza's door, she unlocked it and let me enter first.

I grunted as I flopped down upon the blond's leather couch. I hadn't been told I was to sleep there or anything, but it was kind of an unspoken agreement. I heard Riza shut the front door, chuckling at my near-unconscious form.

"I'll wake you up..." Riza's voice trailed off because I was passed out before she ended the sentence.

_**Dream  
**_

_A large, brown gate stood before me. I wasn't sure what the surface of it was, but I didn't want to find out. Besides me and it, there was only white surrounding everything. On the front of the said gate it had a large eye engraved into the surface. For some reason, the thing made me kind of jittery, like I wanted to leave._

"Equivalence!" Cried someone in a voice that I could not recognize. "One must give to obtain! The law of equivalent exchange!" The sound was loud, and it kind of hurt. 

_I tried covering my ears to block out the words, but they grew louder and more painful._

I pressed as hard as I could possibly go against my head, but I couldn't get the damn pain away. I fell to my knees, nearly getting into a fetal position. 

_My skull felt on the verge of breaking, and my breath was slowly leaving my body. I gasped for oxygen, but I couldn't get much. My brain was pounding with blood. My heart was starting to beat irregularly._

I cried out in pain as I felt my ears want to bleed from such high volumes and pressures. But still that damn voice grew louder_._

"You must give up something of equal value, Maddison!" The voice yelled so loud it was almost like it was in my head.

"Go away!" I screamed, my hands still clamped over my ears. It continued to yell at me about 'equivalence' and what not. My nails dug into my scalp, trying to get it gone.

I heard the voice yell something, but I was going deaf and losing consciousness quickly. Air! I needed _air!_

The gate creaked as it opened. I screamed louder with what little breath I had.

"The law of equivalence exchange must be obeyed!" The voice was nothing less than a loud roar in my head. Many black tentacle-like arms grabbed me and started to pull me by my arms toward the dark abyss beyond the open doors. In the darkness I saw hundreds of eyes, all different colors, surrounding one large eye that reminded me of the eye on the front of the mentioned gate.

I tried to scream louder, but my voice was slowly becoming quieter and my breathing was nonexistent.  
_  
"Your _voice_ is a good price," said the voice as one of the black arms held a small yellow sphere that was glowing and seemed a bit fuzzier around the edges. _

_I kicked with all of my might, luckily hitting the arm that held my voice hard enough that the sphere returned to my throat. I felt a slight rush of wind as the familiar gas rushed to my lungs. Another scream pierced the silence of the otherwise-empty place. The arms started retreating_

"Equivalence!" The voice hissed, and the noodle-like arms wiggled back into their confinement. When I was sure the sounds were gone, I slowly removed my hands from my head and brought them to my neck. 

_I clutched my throat as they left for now. _

_How thankful I was that they left! How thankful I was that they would not try to kill me anymore!_

_I sighed as the few remaining arms dropped me to the ground and returned back to the gate as it closed. I was safe for now, thankfully. Thankfully..._

My eyes drooped, signaling my lack of air finally getting to me. I didn't try to fight it, but I let the calm wash over my self in the form of sleep. 

_**End Dream**_

I awoke what felt like minutes later. I was not in a cold sweat like the night before nor was I the least bit damp. I sighed a bit loudly to see if my voice was there.

"I'm alive..." I said to myself quietly, my hand touching my throat as if it could confirm my voice was still in my throat. "I'm alive! Yes! I'm alive! And I have a voice, still!" I stood, dancing a bit to myself. That had been the worst dream of my life and I was ecstatic to be still amongst the living! Hazah, hooray! I was still alive!

"Are you okay?" Questioned a very familiar voice. I looked over and saw Riza behind the counter, drinking something that was steaming from a white ceramic mug. I nodded with a wide grin on my face.

"I'm better than 'okay'! I'm still _alive_!" I threw up my hands in happiness. The red-eyed woman shook her head, possibly thinking I had just had a horrible dream (which I had), and went along drinking her morning liquid.

I was so happy, though! How could she not feel my overjoy? I felt as jolly as old Saint Nick! I was so delighted at just being alive after that dream! I couldn't help but smell the air deeply for the oxygen!

After my joyful dance for life, I settled down as I remembered the dream I had been having a while earlier. Shuddering at the near loss of my voice (although it had been a dream), I sat back on the couch. I could remember every single detail, down to the black, noodle-like arms that had nearly murdered me and the loud, unknown voice that made my brain want to implode.

"C'mon," said Riza suddenly. I looked at her with a raised eyebrow-noticing for the first time that she was already in the military-like outfit I had seen others in before. "Let's get going. With any luck, we'll beat the Colonel and you can have a bit of time before you have your talk with him."

The way she was talking reminded me of going to the principal's office back when I was young. Was my experience with this man going to be like that? Or could it even be a bit more pleasant?

The blond woman I had resided with for the night already had her key out of her purse and the door open. I hurried to get out the door before she locked me in the apartment. She chuckled at how quickly I moved before she tested the said door, making sure it was secure, and locking it.

"Wow," I said to myself as we exited the apartment complex. The sky was such a dark and deep gray, it looked like a storm could hit as hard as a rock at any second. "It's all so gloomy today. This definitely ain't Texas!"

As we walked, I saw people glancing at the sky nervously. Did the storm look so horrifying to these people? Did they believe it would flood the city? Or could they have been afraid of the lightning that came with it? I couldn't be sure because the woman in front of me left no time for gawking. In fact, she constantly had to tell me to hurry my ass up.

I probably looked like a newborn baby with my large eyes staring at everything. I couldn't help it, though. It was just all so..._new_. It was like I might or might not have seen it before, because it was semi-familiar.

But while I kept after the woman in front of me, I thought of yesterday. God, Jean had been so _toned_. I could remember each muscle in his chest and abs that had looked so...hot. I wanted to drool at the thought of him...

I mentally slapped sense into myself. I didn't need to think _those_ thoughts! It didn't matter how cute Jean was, I would have _nil_ chances at ever getting to date him!

Running a hand through my hair I mentally scolded myself. I shouldn't have thought those things about the man! I had no chances like that! Besides, I wasn't even pretty enough for a guy like him to glance my way!

"Hurry up," Riza said, walking a bit faster. I muttered something to myself about fast people and quickened my pace. "East Headquarters is not that much farther."

Grateful to short distances, I hurried after the woman. I couldn't believe I would get to see Jean again. I hoped he would talk to me, or even give a friendly 'hello' if we passed each other in the hall.

How, though, would I gather enough courage to talk to the man? Would I be able to wave? Would he even notice me? Or would he realize that I _wasn't_ normal and think me as insane? That was the most probable outcome.

When Riza soon opened the door to the building and we ambled up the blue wooden steps, I felt my heart beat quicker in my chest. I wasn't sure why, but I did.

"Good morning, Lieutenant," said two lower-ranking man as me and the woman passed. Riza gave them a look that said 'as you were' and continued on her way to wherever we were headed.

The glum gray-blue of the walls started to remind me of the sky outside and it made me feel a bit less confident. I could almost feel my stomach drop to my feet when I saw more people. Some were talking in hushed tones as the red-eyed woman and I passed. They were most likely conversing about the day before and its events.

Sighing, I straightened myself and looked more confident than I felt. It was just like High School all over again, but this time I had experience. I would not lose myself over the rumor mill this time. Last time that had happened, I never was able to really get a hold of my emotions and it cost me a visit to the hospital for a stomach pumping.

But that was then. I had changed since that time and I wasn't some weak little child anymore. I was twenty-one, an age of extravagance!

And, dammit, I wanted to see Jean again!

So I upturned my nose at all who snickered at me and just let it go. It wasn't important, anyways.

Riza and I quickly passed those people and were off. We continued to walk down the hallways and soon we got to a door. The woman seemed to know whose door it was, because she just walked right in.

"Morning," said a voice from the room. I looked past Riza and saw a man with dark black hair and onyx-colored eyes reading a newspaper. "You're early today, Lieutenant. And I see you've brought someone with you. Come in, come in."

The woman nudged me from out behind her and closed the door. She walked five steps down the hall before another door closed on my right. Now if I could remember that. The man at his desk waited a minute before speaking.

"There's been quite a commotion about you, hasn't there?" I gulped and nodded. My hands went behind my back in nervousness.

"Yes, Colonel." The man motioned for me to sit and I followed his orders. The man before me was silent, even as the rain started pouring from the sky like water from a shower head.

"How'd you do it, though?" He questioned, more to himself than me. "There's someone in the locker room at almost all times." I didn't think about a lie, because I was going to speak the truth no matter how crazy it was.

"I don't know how I got in there," I said, looking at my hands as if they were the most interesting thing on Earth, "but I think it could have something to do with a gate..." The man smirked to himself.

"What kind of gate?" He asked. I bit my lip as I shuddered and remembered the gate from the dream.

"It was large, sir. The surface was brown, solid material with a giant eye carved in the center of two doors. I'm not sure if the surface was metal or wooden, sir, but when it opened, there were many, many eyes looking at me and then there were the arm-like tentacles that nearly stole my voice." The man looked a bit disturbed by my speaking, but didn't stop me. I sighed.

"I have no idea what it was, sir. All I know is that I never want to see it again like I did before."

Nodding, the man set down his paper and stood. He turned to the glum storm outside and thought for a moment.

"Continue to stay with Lieutenant Hawkeye and _don't_ go into the men's locker room again. That's all I have to say." The man continued to stare out his window in boredom as I stood. Bowing respectfully to the man, I swiftly left the room. I stopped just as I was turning the doorknob.

"Thanks, sir." I said quietly as I went into the hall.

I heard a scream in the next few rooms over on my right, in the room that Riza had gone into. It sounded like Teapot, actually. When I ambled over and opened the door, I immediately saw the oddest sight of my life.

The red-headed man was on a thing of shelves, close enough to the ceiling the where he could touch it. He looked like he was scared half to death. Squint, Riza and Jean were standing by the shelf, looking up at the military person.

"Scheech, Teapot," I said as I entered the room, shutting the door behind me. "I know _banshees_ that screech quieter than that." Jean looked over at me, and I felt my face heat up a bit. He raised an eyebrow.

"Hey," he said, doing a half-wave. "I thought you would have headed home after your talk with Mustang." I shrugged.

"Actually, I'm homeless. Plus, the guy told me to continue living with Riza." Jean gave me a confused look before shaking it off.

"What's the problem, Breda?" Havoc turned back around to look at his comrade. The man pointed downwards to the ground.

"Havoc! Be careful! It-it's on the loose! Th-there's nothing protecting us! Over there!" Teapot said this all on one breath while pointing wildly at a small puppy. A small, _adorable_ puppy, too.

"Aww, it's so cute!" I cooed as it wagged its tail. It had to be an ankle-biter pup, but its feet were actually pretty big. It would probably grow until it was as tall as my knees.

The dog was black in all places except for its white belly, tail's underside, and face. It kind of looked like a Shiba Inu.

"This is what you're scared of, Teapot?" I muttered to myself. The man let out a kind of groaning sound that was mixed with a whine.

"Care to explain this one, Falman?" Riza said, looking down at the cute puppy. Squint took a step or two forward.

"It is a dog, Lieutenant. Carnivorous canine mammal. I think the scientific name is-." the lightly-skinned man responded, like a human library. I looked at him, surprised at how many informative words this man could speak at a time. The blond woman cut him off, though.

"That's not what I'm asking, Falman," she sighed. "You need to loosen up." I giggled slightly to myself. How could they _not _laugh? Squint saluted the woman.

"Yes sir, Lieutenant Hawkeye. I will continue to work on that." I noticed Harry Potter stepped behind the tiny puppy. Resisting the urge to hug both the dog and the man, I just made a little 'squeak' of awe in the back of my throat.

The guy behind the puppy picked him up into his arms. The dog panted and wagged its tail happily. Apparently it had taken a liking to the shortest man.

"Sorry, sirs," said the royal blue-eyed man, "I found him this morning and he was all on his own."

"MSG, Fuery!" Said Squint, a bit irritated. I raised an eyebrow at the tall man. What the hell did _that_ mean?

"So," Jean said, a hand on his hip, "you gonna keep him?" I saw that this man was smoking again. Was he a chain-smoker or something?

"I wish I could, Lieutenant Havoc," said Harry Potter. "But as I'm sure your aware that there's no pets aloud in the NCL living quarters." I frowned. Poor little puppy!

"Well that certainly doesn't mean you can keep him in the office, Kain." Riza had slight sympathy in her eyes for either the dog or the man holding the dog. Either way she looked sorry.

"I know it, it's just he was shivering out in the rain and I felt sorry for him. You're higher-ups, you could keep him." The kind man looked a bit hopeful towards the four. Falman raised his hand to about his chin.

"Not me, I'm in the dorms, too." I bit my lip, sorry for the poor pup.

"No way," Teapot said from his position against the ceiling. The shelves creaked and groaned quietly under him. "I hate those beasts!"

Sighing, Harry Potter looked down at the puppy. I saw Jean reach over and grab the said pup by the scruff of its neck.

"Don't worry," said the brunette/blond man, "I'll take him off your hands. I like dogs." So Jean liked them, too? Cool! The Lieutenant man walked away for a bit, still holding the puppy by its neck scruff.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," said Harry Potter, looking thankfully at the other man. "He's really sweet." Jean's cigarette twitched up then down a few times before he decided to continue.

"Sure," he replied, "I hear they're good when stir-fried...A few spices." The royal blue-eyed man looked skeptical at Jean's comment. I chuckled to myself. "Yep, here in the East they raise them as a delicacy, especially these plump ones." Riza swiped the pup from his hands before anything worse could happen.

"Let's try to find him a better owner, okay?" Riza said, handing the pup to Harry Potter.

"Good plan," Fuery sighed as he took the pup back. I giggled.

"Please," Jean said, "it was a joke." He rubbed the back of his head as the three looked a bit _too_ reluctant to return him the dog.

The Shiba Inu pup started barking towards the door, and Fuery had to hold its mouth closed for a second to keep it from being discovered.

The said door opened, revealing a very short teenage boy and a large suit of armor. The teen had golden hair pulled back into a braid and his eyes were about the same shade. He was a cute kid, but he had to be about fourteen.

"So, uh," said the blond little kid, "should I come back later?"

"Hey, Edward, Alphonse," said Riza, a small smile on her lips. Fuery was holding the pup so it'd be quiet and not be discovered. "I guess this means your back." The two people at the door nodded before a long and loud '_meoooooooooooooooooooowrr,'_ came from the suit of armor. In the way that the armor made an '_oh, shit_' noise, I guessed he was worried. The three cast a look towards the one I guessed was Alphonse.

"Strange," said Riza in a monotone.

"Excuse me," the one I guessed was Edward said, albeit forced. "Al and I need to talk." He grabbed a hold of the armor's arm and dragged him into the hall.

"Edward," called the blond I now resided with, "I believe you have a report to make." The shorter of the two kids ducked back in for a second and saluted as he talked.

"Thanks for the reminder, sir, I'll speak to the Colonel now." He then closed the door behind him.

"..." We all were silent until I shuffled over and petted the puppy in Harry Potter/Fuery's hands.

"So adorable," I said, a smile on my face towards the man. He smiled and held the dog out for me. I took it into my hands and smiled. "No one's gonna eat you, puppy. Not if _I_ have a say in it." I glared at Jean for a millisecond, before breaking out in a fit of giggling. It was just too hard for me not to laugh at him and the joke.

I sighed, "Good luck to finding him an owner, Harry Potter." He smiled at me and nodded, taking the dog back into his arms.

"Thanks, I really hope I can, Maddison. Unless you want to keep him, then." I held up my hands to the man in front of me.

"I wish I could, but I'm not the best choice for him." I said, shaking my head sheepishly. "I'm still trying to find a job and I'm homeless. So after I'm let away from Riza's home, I'm out in the rain as well. And my kind of misery doesn't need the company of a dog." Harry Potter nodded, sighing.

I felt so bad for the guy and the pup, but I knew I couldn't take care of it.

But I was still living with Riza, which was good.

Thank god for the Colonel!


	4. A Useless Walk, Isn't It?

**OMFG, guys! I totally am in LOVE with this story, 'cause I love Havoc. But I've been trying to write one chapter every two days. That means nine to ten pages...Not gonna happen, 'cuz I'm a procrastinator.**

Note: I know a LOT of details are off in this story, but bear with me. I haven't noticed some of them until later. When I'm done with this, I will most likely get the details straight before I post a sequel.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FMA. I OWN THE MYSTERIOUS DESIGN, MY OC, BUT NOTHING ELSE!

Enjoy~!

**Thank God For...**

**(A FullMetal Alchemist story)  
*Chapter Four: A useless walk, isn't it?***

I rested in a chair, legs crossed and a book in my hands, next to Teapot and in front of Riza in an empty desk. It wasn't my desk, actually, but one that was just there to look nice or something. I could hear the rain pouring down outside as I studied a book Riza had lent me.

Kain Fuery/Harry Potter (as I had dubbed him) was kneeling on the ground with the still-homeless pup, feeding the said pup some milk. The blond first Lieutenant sat across from me, reading _'__Truth__'_ because of her spare time. Jean, Squint, and Teapot were just looking bored in their own desks.

"Battle assessment?" Questioned the man nearest to the floor. "Sounds weird." Teapot looked up from his grubby nails. I abandoned my own reading at this current point, watching the passing of words between military men.

"Does the army really do that," asked the red-head. Jean leaned back in his chair, placing his hands behind his head in a fashion I thought as cute and rebellious. Kain looked up from the puppy to the others.

"Yeah," said the blond/brunette man, "sometimes the alchemists go up against each other in a mock battle and they're graded on how they use their skills." I looked up from my book at the others, but Riza continued reading. Although it was semi-obvious that she was listening in, as well.

"I just think it's weird that Ed actually requested it," Jean continued. Teapot returned with a slight chuckle in his voice,

"Yeah, and picking the Colonel. That's a heck of an opponent to take by choice." He thought about it for a moment. "Seriously, though, who do you think would win, if they were both really giving their all?" Kain didn't hesitate to answer this.

"Are you kidding, it's gotta be the Flame!" He sounded a bit anxious to see this fight, just to be proved correct. Jean puffed out some smoke from the cigarette that never seemed to leave his mouth while Harry Potter stood up, holding the black-and-white puppy in his arms.

"I don't know, you can't count out FullMetal, either." I looked over at the man that had found me in the shower less than forty-eight hours ago. "The kid's a hero in this region. Then again, when you think about all the stories of Mustang during the rebellion..."

"But why would Ed propose this to begin with, it's so risky." At this point in the conversation between them, Riza inputted her knowledge.

"I heard it was for a cat," she said, not looking up from her book. All five of us turned our heads to her. "The conditions are that if Ed wins, Mustang has to take care of it." Kain looked a bit down.

"A cat?" he said with a bit of a quiver in his voice. "I guess that's bad news for this guy; I was hoping the Colonel would take him." Both the dog and the man holding it sighed. The poor things...

A door opened, and the five of us looked up while Riza returned to reading her book. Roy stood in the doorway, letting out a little growl of annoyance. He ambled over to Fuery, who let out a gulp of slight fear.

"Sir?" Asked the shortest man before he had the puppy in his hands stolen away by Mustang. The said pup let out a small whine as it was raised into the air above the tall Colonel. He looked like murder was about to fall upon everyone.

"Dog, huh?" There was a short pause before the man's serious scowl turned into a giddy grin. "I love dogs!" Fuery's eyes lit up and he stepped forward, obviously happy.

"Really?" He said, almost skeptically. "You mean it?!"

"Of course!" Mustang replied, turning back around to face the shorter man. "Dogs embody loyalty, they follow their master's commands above all else! Be a jerk to them and they don't complain and they never once beg for a paycheck! Trust me, Fuery, they're the great servants of man! Loyal canine, how we salute thee!" All the while he said these things, he was doing what I would now and forever call 'the doggy dance'. Afterwards, he let out a long, maniacal laugh.

Poor Harry Potter looked horrified as he was frozen in his spot, slowly paling from this encounter with the taller man.

"Well you're awfully manic today, sir," Jean said. I looked up from my book and over at the scene. "I figured that challenge would worry you some." Mustang abandoned his evil towards the dog and returned to his serious composition (despite the fact he was still smiling). He turned to face Jean.

"Come on, the Fuhrer knows it wouldn't be fair with me against the kid. I'd love to show off my valor, but there's no _way_ he's going to allow it." I sighed and closed the book I had abandoned reading.

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, sir," I said. He finally looked over at me with a 'when-did-you-get-here' look. "Trust me, it always comes to the opposite composition. And then what you had originally planned gets blown up in your face. Then you try lots of pills at the-." I noticed _all_ had their eyes on me. I let out a nervous laugh while a blush started creeping over my face.

"What?" I said, rubbing the back of my head, sheepishly.

"Lots of pills?" Jean said, his voice kind of strained and a raised eyebrow of actual _concern_ turned my way. I looked at the desk in front of me.

"Just a one-time thing, y'know? The blades weren't working, so I tried something else. Hey, did the rain stop? I think it did!" I spoke quickly, staring out the window.

"No," said Squint slowly. "It's still pouring outside. Now what do you mean by pills?"

I sighed, "Fine. I mean that I tried suicide back in High School. Nothing big, really. No one would have missed me except for...Well, _he_ died anyway. Too suicidal for our own good..." I stared at my vaguely interesting hands.

Silence accompanied my words. No one spoke, because they were most likely afraid of the 'little-girl-who-cried-and-cut-herself' thing or they thought you could catch depression like you would a cold. I knew I was a moron! How could I let something so personal slip?! And to people I had only known for a small while! God, I was such an _idiot_!

I heard a chair scraping across the floor and footsteps. I didn't dare look up, for I knew what was coming. I didn't _want_ to be hit, but I shrunk back to try and protect myself from the wrath of someone's hand.

"Maddison," Jean said while he grew nearer. "Don't _ever_ say those things." When he was next to me (I could tell by his polished boots next to my chair) his tan-ish, calloused hand wiped away a tear from my cheek. When it had gotten there, I didn't know.

I closed my eyes and turned away from him, still cautious about what to say.

"It was nothing," I lied, keeping my composure in the time. "It never was. Just forget I ever said anything." He didn't move though. Instead, he placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.

I sighed and turned my head back to smile at him. He looked so peaceful to me, like he really didn't care and was happy that I was, indeed, still alive.

"You're lying," he said, bluntly. "Your eyes say so."

"I may be, but my life is not really something that should be told in some sort of storybook." The man smirked at me, obviously knowing that there was a lot more than that.

"Let's go for a walk," he said, grabbing onto my forearm and practically dragging me out of my chair. "I'll have her back by sundown, Lieutenant Hawkeye, sir. Don't worry, you know I'll take good care of her!"

"Hey," I cried as he started pulling my half-walking, half-stumbling body towards the door. "Don't I get a say in this?!" He continued on, a smirk showing between his cigarette.

"Nope, now hurry up!" My cries could probably be heard all over the floor as Jean pulled me out the door of the office we had been in. In fact, a few heads looked out some doors as we passed.

"Jean!" I whined, pouting slightly. "Let go, dammit!" He would just chuckle and continue on. I decided that an easier tactic would be to not stumble as much, out of truthful fear of falling.

He led me down the same stairs that only fifteen minutes before I had went up with Riza. These stairs were very difficult to go down when I was being pulled like a maniac at a pace that even my roommate couldn't keep up with.

Where could the man be taking me? Could he possibly just be going for a walk with me or could it be for a completely _other_ reason? I shivered, hoping it was just for the former and not the latter, for it was less scary.

"Jean?" I said when we finally stepped onto the first floor. His pace slowed a tiny bit to the point where I was at a basic jog not to trip and looked back at me. "Do we have to sprint? Seriously, I did less running in Track back in High School!" He smiled and slowed his half-jog down to a normal walk that I could keep up with.

Then I noticed something; his hand and slid from the middle of my forearm down to where he was firmly gripping my hand. My heart skipped a few beats and my face heated up to a _very _interesting shade of tomato red.

I noticed the large contrast in our skin colors as I stared down to our interlocked fingers. It was so fantastic, the fact that his olive complexion was completely natural and that mine was just so pale. He probably spent more time in the sun than I did.

I casually used the hand that wasn't in his grip to scoot out my other mentioned hand. Jean realized what I was doing (and hopefully he didn't get the wrong impression, I did like him!) and his face turned about the same shade. I coughed in nervousness.

"So where is this brilliant walk going to take us?" I asked, enthusiastically trying to steer away from the tiny little incident. He noticed my steerage and (metaphorically) went along for the ride. He thought for a second.

"Out," he replied, a simple yet sly smirk on his lips. I glared at him for a moment.

"And where would _that_ happen to be?" He let out a breath of intoxicating (yet incredibly sexy!) smoke that smelled really nice to me. Needless to say, it was_ very _hard for me not to reach up and grab it away from him and take a drag or two. He kept the smirk around his wonderful cigarette and said nothing.

I crossed my arms over my chest and looked up to him. I actually was tall enough to where my chin was about to his shoulder in height, so I really couldn't say I was an intimidating sight. He chuckled slightly to himself and slightly aloud before turning down another hall. We passed two familiar doors and my face must have flushed ten billion different shades of pink.

"So, Maddison," Jean said, "you ever smoked before?" I thought over my High School years before giving him a smirk of my own.

"Now wouldn't _you_ like to know?" I paced a little quicker, walking before him in a few steps. He quickened his own walk to keep up with me and I snickered silently to myself. He raised an eyebrow as his smirk faltered and turned to a discontented frown.

"Yes," he drawled, "I actually would like to know if you could handle it before I offer you anything." I sighed melodramatically, but nodded all the same. He made it all too tempting.

"I don't believe you." I winced at his words. Way too tempting. In fact...

I moved quickly and stole his burning cigarette from his lips and put it between my own pair, taking a slow drag. He looked down at me with slight disbelief before taking out another from his pocket and lighting it with his military-blue lighter. I let out the drag I had taken, sighing, in love with the feel it brought me.

I never really understood why I had quit back in High School. The feel of the warm, black smoke traveling down and filling my lungs to an extent was addicting. It cleared my head a bit and brought my confusion to a painless stop.

Personally, I couldn't think of any truthful reason besides the fact that my parents had a say in it. That's most likely the reason...

_And_ I doubt I would've wanted to go to military school or anything like that. Though it most likely would've been a lot better than Freshman year in College. That had been a living hell...

"Believe me, now?" I let out another breath of the smoke and his own smirk returned.

"I don't think I have a choice, do I?" I shook my head 'no' and took the said cigarette out of my mouth, holding with two fingers.

"Surprising, ain't it?" I chuckled to myself, trying to look like a sexy vixen towards him. I couldn't hold the look on my face of attempt for more than a few seconds before bursting out in giggles. He raised an eyebrow at my form before shaking his head to rid of whatever thoughts he had in his mind.

"Everything is a surprise with you, Maddison." I raised the cigarette to my lips as we passed two girls that seemed very familiar. They did a double-take and smiled towards Jean before giving me a look like I was a slut.

I just smirked evilly to myself, winking at them when Jean wasn't looking. They gave me an even worse look, but I wasn't faltered. I knew them. Just like in High School, they were the sluts of the joint. I could tell from their eyes and how they looked at Jean as if he was some sort of..._prize_.

"Of course it is," I said, my smile leaving my face and being replaced with a slightly snobbier look. I raised my nose up a bit. "That's why I'm so awesome. You know it's true, no?" I smirked once again with the cigarette letting off a small stream of smoke that floated upward to the sky.

Jean shook his head to rid of something in his thoughts, before he smiled to himself in a snarky way that scared me of his next actions.

"I can say one thing, though," he mused, more-so to himself than me. "You definitely aren't like normal girls." I scoffed, inhaling a bit more smoke in the process.

"If I am normal, then I have irises the color of mountaintops and strands of hair the shade of your sapphire eyes!" I blushed a bright shade of pink at my statement, but the man next to me didn't notice, because he went on with the conversation.

"I guess that you're not, then?" I shook my head, signaling that he was right and I really _wasn't_ normal.

"Explains a lot, doesn't it?" I took another drag of the cigarette that had once been his and let out the smoke after a few seconds. He laughed to himself and I punched him in his arm.

"Well," he said, still slightly snickering, "_normal girls_ don't appear in other people's showers." I hit him on the arm again, grumbling something inaudible.

"At least you know my hair is dyed," I countered, an evil grin taking place of the earlier smirk. "I, on the other hand, still have no idea if your drapes match your carpet." He blushed and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. I had him.

Suddenly, he rushed forward to a door and opened it for me. I chuckled to myself a bit, looking out the door to see the rain pouring.

"Trying to say something, Jean?" He just gestured for me to go right ahead and I blushed. But I kept my head held high, pulling him by his collar out with me. "You're not getting out of this that easily. C'mon, tiger."

When we entered the outside, the pouring rain pelted us instantly. I felt my grin slowly turn to a softer, kinder smile as the blond/brunette behind me protested silently as his cigarette was put out by the many raindrops. I threw mine to the paved ground, stepping it out with my boot's toe. I kept a hold of Jean's collar, not ready to give him the chance to go back inside.

He's the one who wanted to walk, dammit.

The tall man had thrown his now-dead cigarette to the pavement and was looking at me like I was a moron. He was soaked straight through to the bone, his usually-poofy bangs sagging a bit under the weight of the pouring rain. I giggled slightly to myself.

I let go of his collar and walked a bit slower for a more comforting effect.

"Nice weather we're having, isn't it?" I spoke, breaking the silence as best as I could. "Though it's kind of cold..." I shivered a tiny bit for effect as Jean continued walking beside me.

Now that I thought about it, this man looked a lot better when he was smoking a cigarette. I mean, he had the whole 'bad boy' thing about him when he was inhaling the gorgeous toxins, but without it he was just as cute, but with a bit more innocent feel about him.

"Where do you think we should go?" Questioned the tall man beside me, looking up at the glum, cloudy sky out of boredom. I did a double-take in disbelief.

"Well, we could just walk around until the rain stops and then we could share a shower..." I flashed him an evil grin as he blushed an interesting shade of pink. "Though it's not like you haven't seen me after one already. I mean, I got to see half of you, but you saw quite a bit of me..." His face was now more of a tomato-y color, which made me burst out laughing, more or less because of the looks people we passed were giving us.

"Maddison," Jean said, in a bit of a mixed warning/embarrassed tone, "what are you planning?"

"Nothing," I assured him, my laugh slowly tuning to a snicker. "I'm only joking with you. You gotta get to know me before we do anything like that, y'know?" His face slowly turned to its normal shade as he went off on a different topic.

"So you want to be a teacher, huh?" I nodded, a small blush on my face. "That's cool, I guess. Not many people have the patience to do that sort of thing."

"Well, I do. I love children, though I probably won't ever be able to have any..." I trailed off, my hand rubbing my stomach sadly. The blond/brunette man looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"How did you manage that?" I bit my lip to avoid whatever tears that wanted to spill out.

"When I had to get my stomach pumped of the pills, they found an infection in one of my fallopian tubes and they had to rid of it before it could kill me, which got rid of the eggs a normal girl has. Instead of the one-in-seven chances that most women have, I've got a one-in-fourteen chance. It's not fair, really..." Jean looked sympathetic towards me and he undid some buttons on his military-issued jacket. He shrugged out of the sopping-wet thing before wrapping it around my slightly shivering form.

I looked up at him, surprised at this show of kindness towards me. He was just looking ahead, his expression unreadable to me. I rested my head lightly on his arm, pulling the jacket close around my body. If he wanted to pull away, he sure didn't act like it-because he moved his arm to where it was wrapped around me, almost as if we were a couple.

_Almost_ being the keyword.

_'How am I getting home?'_ I thought to myself, frowning a little. Even if I was in the warmth of this man's arms during a cold rain storm, it didn't mean that everything would be all right. I had finals soon, and I would have to get back before those so I wouldn't fail my sophmore year! I really didn't need that.

Sighing to myself, I looked up to the man that I was so close to. I wondered what he was thinking at that moment. Could he be wanting to push me away and run off, never to be seen again? Or could he be thinking of what to say next in this awkward conversation.

Dammit, why the hell was I such an _idiot_?! He obviously didn't want to know I couldn't have kids. That was bad move number-one in the Dummies Guide to Dating handbook! How stupid _was_ I?! I couldn't believe my mouth!

"That sucks," Jean said, bluntly put. I nodded as he pulled me a bit closer to his warmth. Then he gave a look like he had just oh-so-suddenly thought of something.

"C'mon, I know where we can go." He paced a bit faster, a smirk replacing the sympathetic look he had only just taken up. I struggled to keep up _and_ keep next to him. Damn, how could he be so fucking quick?!

"Where are we going?" I asked, only to receive no answer. I scowled in frustration, annoyed at being left in the dark. "Fine, fine. I'll wait and see." I kept his jacket wrapped snugly around my shivering and soaked form.

The rain still came down on this city in dark, cold sheets of gloom. It made me want to go inside somewhere, just to sit by a fire with a warm towel wrapped around me. That would be nice, actually. Just sitting with Jean, talking over many a-things, with the dry feeling of being out of the rain and near a fire...That sounded nice, really.

The two of us passed an older couple, who looked at us with curious eyes. I smiled at them and waved, all the while somehow getting closer to the man next to me. The older woman smiled at me with her smile and her mountaintop irises, her wrinkles showing that all of her years in life were worth it. She had no obvious pupils, signaling she was blind. Although the man was holding her hand in his, whispering things to her that I couldn't make out.

The man was bald and wrinkled, with his hand in hers as if life depended on it. He looked at us like we wouldn't last, but there was a slight sparkle of hope in his pale green eyes. He looked like he truly loved the woman next to him. I smiled at him as well, hoping he would get that I liked the blond/brunette man next to me, but he probably didn't return the feelings.

"Maddison?" I looked up at the Second Lieutenant, a curious expression on my face. "Why did you try to kill yourself?" I shrugged, like we were talking about simple algebra instead of me nearly killing myself.

"No one would've missed me," I said, sighing. "Besides, I had nothing at that point in my life. No home, no love, no feelings, and not even a single bit of care from my parents were my reasons for suicide."

"That's crazy," Jean stated. "If you had died, then we never would have met."

"But then we wouldn't be walking through the rain to a place you haven't told me of yet."

"But _then_ we wouldn't be about to go inside."

"_But then_ we wouldn't be arguing about almost nothing."

"_But then _I wouldn't have to point out that we are not fighting."

"_But then _you'd still be smoking."

"_But **then**_ you'd be in hell or some other place."

"_But **then** _I wouldn't have to tell you I'm not that religious."

"_**But then**_ you would be either underground or dust in the wind." I had to stop and think for a second.

"I have boobies, so I win." I smirked up at him, a victorious gleam sparkling in my mixed-colored eyes. The man next to me just gave an odd look down at me, as if he barely got the joke. I giggled at his expression, but he just looked up while turning a corner again.

I couldn't know where he was taking me and I was scared of that. Could he be about to do something horrible to me? Or could he be bringing me to a warm fire with a nice towel and free umbrellas?

"Here's the place," Jean said, suddenly stopping in front of a dark blue shop-looking place. I looked up at a small, soggy wooden sign that read in faint green letters:

**'Fiery Pub'**

This was the pub that Riza and I had went to only the night before. Holy coincidence!

The blond/brunette man removed his arm from around my shoulders before knocking three times on a dark window nearest the door. The black curtain behind the said window moved, Sam's kind face appearing, and when he saw Jean (with me, no less!) he immediately opened the door.

I gave a 'can-you-believe-it' look to the bartender when the Second Lieutenant took his blue jacker from around my shivering form and hung it on a dry wooden rack.

The older, bald man just smiled at me and nodded.

"Sam," I said, erasing my look and shivering, "do you have a fire or something? It's freezing out there." Jean re-wrapped his arm around me and held me slightly close for warmth. I stepped back a bit in surprise, only succeeding in getting closer to him.

My face turned an interesting shade of pink, but it was not warm. In fact, you could have called it the coldest blush in the history of blushing.

"Aye," Sam said, nodding at what my blush said, "I 'ave a fire fer ya two. C'mon, an' we will-a dry ya off."

Oh, thank God for this man and the warmth of a long, nice fire!


End file.
